Page 43 - Be Reasonable – Do It My Way , Peter E. Daly AM, My Story

CHAPTER 3 - JOHANNESBURG TO DURBAN TO CAPE TOWN TO PORT ELIZABETH AND BACK TO JOHANNESBURG
to work every night, (given that my program every night was not only to go looking for general insurance business but also looking for life insurance, which as I said earlier was very lucrative). He said that he did not believe the country business of which I wrote plenty, particularly amongst the farming community, would be business that would stay with the agencies. He believed that one day computers would come to conduct all this business and there would be very little need for individuals to be active in the country areas. As it eventually turned out, this was somewhat true.
There were always funny things happening which made work memorable and a laugh from time to time. One involved our connection with the Eastern Province Building Society. L&G underwrote all its insurances and it was custom each year for the General Manager of L&G, who also headed up the Life Insurance Division, to come down from Head Office and pass a vote of thanks to the Building Society Board at their AGM.
On one particular occasion the General Manager, Ken Palmer, came from Johannesburg and we had a lunch before the AGM. Unfortunately, he over-indulged and in fact he still had a couple of beers in his pocket when he entered the room. I remember Daphne having to take them out and when it came to the time to speak I had to do the honours.
Another plus of the Eastern Province Building Society was that it organised its AGM when there was a Rugby Test Match in P.E., so it was an added advantage to be invited to speak at their Conference.
Besides the Eastern Province Building Society, we were also were involved with the Grahamstown Building Society which was one of the oldest in South Africa. For generations the Chairman of the Board was a Mr Stone. His great-grandfather and grandfather were also Chairman of the Board during their times. The Board Meetings were something else to behold. I remember grandfather Stone presiding at the meeting. He entered in a wheelchair as he had had a stroke and he was paralysed down the left side, but he
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